The invention relates generally to demountable containers and more specifically to a palletized container that can be readily assembled and disassembled and that includes a pallet bottom, four sidewall components and a top or cover.
Parts shipment from one manufacturer to another, in the past, required little in the way of sophisticated containers. Oftentimes castings or other bulk parts would simply be shipped in a rigid container having a volume appropriate to the density of the parts such that the container, when filled, would not have an unreasonable weight. Frequently, if the parts were of relatively large size, the container would include customized support or separating structures to isolate one part from adjacent parts and minimize damage during shipment.
A significant drawback of all such rigid shipping containers is their deadhead return to the manufacturing facility, that is, their return in an empty state to be refilled. Such deadheading was and is an inherent problem of any rigid, dedicated container utilized to ship parts from one location to another.
This inefficient use of containers has prompted much development effort in the field of both collapsible and recyclable containers. Collapsible containers are broadly that class of containers which may be assembled for parts shipment and disassembled for return. One example of such a container has a rigid bottom and sidewalls having vertical stakes which are received within complementarily sized and configured openings in the bottom. Cardboard containers having releasable locking tabs or corners have also been developed. They may be opened into a box in which the tabs and corners lock to maintain the shape of the container. The tabs and corners may then be released and the box folded flat for return shipment.
Recyclable containers are simply those in which the material from which the container is fabricated is relatively inexpensive and uniform throughout the container so that it may be, for example, ground up and reused in a similar or other form after its one-way trip from the manufacturer to the customer. These and similar solutions to the problem of one-way use of containers have not been entirely satisfactory. Thus, improvements in containers which specifically address the one-way nature of many part shipments are highly desirable.